Butterfly Stitches
by mysticxf
Summary: Jack returns from a game of golf to find an unexpected visitor going through his medical supplies.


Lost and its characters belong to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm borrowing for some non-profit fun. Jack returns from a game of golf to find an unexpected visitor going through his medical supplies. Post "Whatever the Case May Be". Enjoy.

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Lost – Butterfly Stitches  
By Mystic  
August 6th 2005

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The caves were empty. Everyone was on the golf course watching Jack show off his prowess on the green. Kate snuck a look around anyways, holding onto the rag pressed tight against her right hand. She stepped along the rocky slopes that made up the cave floor and glanced at the items sitting atop the liquor cart. The bottles were starting to empty and she winced when the rag rubbed against the cut she was hiding.

"Hey, why aren't you up on the hill? Walt's taking on Hurley and it's looking like the kid might just win," Jack shouted across the open space between them. He was laughing, but stopped quickly when she jumped, turning and bumping the cart with her waist.

Pressing her good hand to her head while cradling the other, Kate shouted, "Jack, shit, you scared… why are you here?" Her voice was scared, caught, and she breathed hard through her open mouth, watching him with wide eyes. She didn't even bother hiding it.

"What happened?" He asked suddenly, jumping over the steps she'd been so careful about a moment before. Jack touched her wrist, but she snapped it away. A part of her never wanted him to touch her again. She didn't deserve his attention; it was why she was sneaking around in the first place. That and she wasn't sure how he'd react if she'd asked him for his help. Kate was certain he'd tell her to do it herself.

Shaking her head, she managed to mumble, "It's nothing, I was just looking for peroxide." It wasn't a lie. She'd promised herself she wouldn't lie to him anymore. It surprised her how hard it had become to just tell the truth.

"Kate," he started, watching as she avoided his eyes. "What happened?"

She lowered her eyebrows and looked up at him, seeing the concern on his face. Jack held out his hand, wanting to take hers, but she hesitated, waiting just a moment. Kate slumped her shoulders and let him lead her towards the bed he'd set up for emergencies. Sitting roughly, she gave him her hand, relaxing the fingers that had been holding the mud colored rag in place. Jack unwrapped it slowly, watching as she jumped when the material tugged at the cut that ran down her palm.

"What happened?" He asked again. Jack wasn't angry with her, but she winced when he asked. He asked her a question and he expected her to tell him the truth. He waited. "Want me to guess?" It wasn't meant to be amusing, but he smiled anyways.

Kate took a breath and admitted, "I was twenty feet up a tree…"

"You slipped," he finished with a sigh. Jack felt his body tense with a fear he couldn't comprehend, but he didn't think lecturing Kate on being careful was going to get him anywhere, so he shook his head. He pulled a water bottle out of the bottom draw of the liquor cart and poured it onto the wound, hearing her hiss. A part of him relished in her pain.

He shook his head again as he pressed her palm together, squeezing a good amount of blood free and watched her turn away, her left hand coming to her mouth. Jack wouldn't have taken her for a squeamish person. Maggots didn't seem to faze her. But there she was, her forehead breaking out in a cold sweat, her cheeks loosing their color. It made him smirk. He pressed until the droplets rolled over the edge of her palm and dripped onto the ground and then he washed it out more, watching as her left foot began jumping.

"Kate," he laughed, touching her left knee and feeling her jerk under his hand. "Stop bouncing."

The left corner of her mouth perked up slightly and her left eyebrow rose slowly. "Jack, it hurts."

"I'm sorry, but I can't examine it if you're body is shaking."

Nodding her head, she crossed her left leg over her right and leaned into it slightly, pressing her left knuckles into her chin. "All I need is some peroxide, just something to kill any infec…"

"Kate, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing," he told her with a lopsided grin.

Jack watched the way she studied him, her eyes narrowed just slightly. She bit her lip and gave a short nod. Jack went back to looking at the broken skin and listening to her suck her teeth as he searched for any pieces of bark that might have become imbedded in her flesh. She curled her fingers around his after a moment and told him in a quick, hushed voice, "I don't want stitches, Jack."

He threw himself back and laughed. "You're scared of stitches."

Kate tried to yank her hand away, feeling her cheeks growing hot, but Jack held on. "I'm not scared of stitches, I just don't want them," she told him stubbornly. There, she thought to herself, there's the truth. Not all of it, she knew, but most of it. It wasn't an outright lie.

Jack pulled a brown bottle off the cart and then opened a drawer and removed a roll of tape and another roll of gauze. He chuckled again, keeping a firm grasp on her right hand as she tried several times to tug it away. "Butterfly stitches, Kate."

She calmed, her hand laid flat, palm up, on his thigh. "I just don't like needles," she admitted as he began cutting small strips of tape.

"I bet you used to vomit on your primary physician." He murmured, cleaning her wound with a small amount of peroxide.

Kate shook her head, leaning forward to watch him press the skin together and apply the first piece of tape. "His nurses."

Jack's head came up after the third. "But you stitched up my back just fine."

She shrugged and told him honestly, "You don't know how close you were to being covered in orange juice." She paused, then nodded at him, "I wasn't lying when I said I might throw up on you."

He raised a hand and pressed his knuckles to her forehead, feeling the heat there. He noticed her skin had steadily been going from golden brown to grey since he'd started squeezing her palm. "You're not going to faint on me, are you?"

Kate swallowed hard. "Just finish," she instructed, taking a deep breath. She didn't want to tell him the truth and she didn't want to lie. She just might faint if he didn't hurry the hell up. Jack read the truth on her face – whether she liked it or not – and nodded, going back to concentrating on the remaining strips, holding her skin together tightly as he pressed the tape over the cut that ran along her lifeline.

It made him smirk just a little. Would a palm reader think that a bad omen, to have your lifeline split open. He wondered how long it had been before. It would run down to her wrist now.

He wrapped her hand just tight enough with the gauze and taped it shut. Jack raised his eyes to look at her. She was sitting straight up, taking long breaths, her eyes watching him. "You alright?"

"Not really," she admitted truthfully. He touched her forehead again, feeling it cool. Jack rubbed away the sheen there and blew gently against her head, watching her eyes close. He'd never been afraid of blood. Jack tucked a long wave behind her ear and cupped her chin in his hand. He was afraid, for a moment, she'd kick him, but she was too dazed. "Jack?" She questioned, her eyes opening and staring at him sleepily.

"Vulnerability isn't something I expected from you."

Shrugging her shoulders, Kate smirked and shifted her face out of his grasp. "Adoration isn't something I expected from you."

He held her hand, keeping her from leaving. "You should sit a while," he pulled a mango from his pack and handed it to her.

Kate frowned. "I love it when they change the subject," she mumbled, taking the fruit in her good hand and biting into it. She felt the juice drip down her chin, but just as quickly as it was there, Jack was wiping it away with his thumb. "So, are you going to follow me around until this heals?"

He wanted to nod, just to make her laugh, but she was already laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Mental picture," she said, taking a smaller bite and sucking at the juice before it could make a trail out of her mouth. "You following me around with wipes and that look on your face. That one you get when I'm about to do something stupid."

Jack grinned. "I'm sure you can take care of yourself, Kate."

"Thanks," she muttered. "I wouldn't mind, you know."

"What?" He asked, curious.

"A little attention." Her words were quiet, as if she were ashamed to say them and he watched the mango sit in her hands as she avoided his eyes again. "I know I screwed up, Jack."

He frowned, letting her pull her bandaged hand out of his grasp. His palm went cold without hers and he stared down at it, seeing her blood crusted on parts of his fingers. "I just don't see why you can't be honest with me."

"It's been a very long time since I've had to be honest."

Jack stared at her. "I don't want you to be honest out of some obligation, Kate. I want you to be honest because you want to tell me the truth. I want you to trust me."

"I trust you," she shot back, her eyes going wide.

He stood and replaced the bottle and the rolls and slammed the drawer shut. Jack turned and took a long breath, waiting for her to look at him. She didn't, she stared down at her hand and touched the gauze gently. He looked at the mango she'd let drop to the ground and he frowned. "You should have finished that."

"Why?" Kate stood to leave, but fell back onto the bed, her hands shooting out and grabbing onto him when he lunged forward.

"Firstly," he sighed, laying her head gently onto the airline pillow, "it increases your sugar levels and decreases the chances of a blackout." He touched her forehead, watching her a moment before continuing. "Second, the time it takes to eat it calms your nerves and lets your body regenerate the blood it's lost. Again, decreasing the chances of a blackout."

Kate nodded her head slowly, batting his hand away. She closed her eyes and felt him take her hands and lay them on her stomach. Jack's weight shifted the bed slightly and she slid into him, smiling. "I'm fine, Jack."

He waited, his knuckles chancing a slide along her arm before resting atop her bandaged hand gently. Jack shook his head and watched her open her eyes and look up at him, her grin fading. "Keep it clean, don't go climbing any trees for a while, and come see me in a few days. If it starts to burn or itch, find me immediately."

She watched him stand and go towards the pool of water with his backpack. He filled several bottles and walked past her again. "Jack," she called his name quietly, but he didn't hear her. Kate watched him slip through the jungle's edge towards the golf course as she waited for her weakness to pass.

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Finis 


End file.
